


Own Personal Hell

by BeStillMySlashyHeart



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cheating, Coma, Isobel POV, M/M, POV Outsider, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22488529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeStillMySlashyHeart/pseuds/BeStillMySlashyHeart
Summary: Now that Isobel's getting the hang of her telekinesis, Michael decides to test out his telepathic abilities. It backfires. Badly. Now Michael's trapped inside his own mind and only one person can break him out.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 18
Kudos: 237





	1. Chapter 1

Isobel breezed into Maria’s tiny apartment, her mind only half on what was going on in the room, the rest running through everything she needed to get done today. “Alright. What’s the big emergency?”

Liz and Rosa exchanged glances (and that really should have clued her in, Isobel thought later. Liz was never unsure about anything) and waved her into the living room. Michael was lying prone on the floor, his face twisted in pain. Maria was crouched next to him, shaking his shoulders. “Come on, Michael, wake up,” she was crooning sweetly.

“What the hell?” Isobel hurried over to Michael’s side. ‘What happened?”

“He wanted to try using his telepathic powers,” Maria explained, wiping at the stray tears on her face. “We agreed he’d go into my mind and make me go pick something up from around the room.”

“Okay? And?” Isobel snapped.

Maria shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. He sort of zoned out for a minute, sort of like you do when you do your thing, and then he just fell over. It’s been almost an hour and we can’t wake him up.”

“He’s responsive,” Liz added. “Physically he seems to be fine, but-”

“He’s in pain!” Isobel yelled when Michael’s face screwed up again.

Liz took a deep breath. “It looks like it yes but _physically_ he seems to be fine. We think maybe something went wrong with the telepathy and whatever this is, it’s in his head.”

“Which we can’t do anything about,” Rosa added unhelpfully. “We called Kyle to come check his vitals or whatever to make sure but he’s stuck at work.”

Isobel dropped her bag on the floor and shifted to get more comfortable. “What are you doing?” Maria asked. 

“Figuring out what the hell happened with my brother,” Isobel answered absently as she placed a hand on Michael’s forehead and reached for his mind with hers. It took a few minutes just like it always did when Isobel reached for Michael. The two of them had never had the connection she and Max had had and Michael was generally closed off anyway so it was always difficult when she tried. 

Michael tended to refer to his thoughts as ‘the chaos’. Isobel had always privately mocked him for it until the first time she entered his mind only to find a maelstrom where most people had peace.

This time it was…worse.

It was more organized and yet more chaotic. Where before she could find his consciousness at the center of a million thoughts, all of them too fleeting and nondescript for her to catch, now she caught concrete thoughts and images and memories. They flitted around her too fast for her to really _see_ but they were there nonetheless.

“Michael?!” She called, her voice somehow echoing inside the nothingness. “Michael!”

“Izzy?” Came a whisper. Isobel followed it until she found Michael’s hunched form trying eagerly to become one with the space around them.

“Michael!” He flinched away from her when she reached for his shoulder. “What is going on? Why are you in here?”

“Izzy?” He whispered again.

Isobel furrowed her brow. “Michael?” 

Michael flinched _hard_ , his whole body jolting away from her as a pained scream erupted from his throat. Instinctively Isobel stepped back, just in case she had done something. But just as his scream cut off, another came. Only this time it came with a flash of image, a hammer slamming down onto his left hand. Once, twice, three times. On the third hit, Isobel caught a glimpse of Sgt Jesse Manes’ face, twisted in anger and hatred. 

And then it was gone. Michael wasn’t screaming anymore, the image was no more.

“What the he-”

Another flash, this time of someone spitting on him and yelling in his face about his utter worthlessness.

Silence.

Another flash, a bright red cross being pressed into his arm. This came with another scream from Michael.

Silence.

Her own face, her own voice. “Why can’t we just go back to the way things were? Everything was fine!” This time it came with the crushing feeling of disappointment, that everything was fine when Michael was a murderer, but not okay when it was Isobel. The feeling wasn’t her own.

Silence.

“You’re not my friend! And you’re not my family!” Max. Her heart broke open. Only, again, it wasn’t hers.

Silence.

Before the next flash came, Isobel crossed the distance and grabbed at Michael, trying to get him to stop. It didn’t work.

A guitar sat at his feet, a kiss lingering on his lips, as a truck drove away. The dust cloud kicked up behind it last longer than the image of the truck. Isobel somehow knew Alex Manes was the driver.

Silence.

Ann Evans looked down at her sadly. “I’m sorry, honey, but you can’t spend the night. You need to go home.” A sleeping bag in the back of his truck, the empty desert stretched out around him.

“Michael?!” Isobel distantly heard Maria’s voice. “Please, baby, please wake up.” Michael showed no signs of having heard her as the silence came again.

Desperately, Isobel shoved every loving thought she’d ever had about Michael into the space around them.

It was their 16th birthday. It was a small affair, a few friends from school. Well, a few of Max’s friends. No one Isobel had invited had come. As Max had fun with his guests, Isobel snuck out the back door to hide. Michael followed her a moment later and they spent the rest of the night making up stories about the stars they could see. 

Silence.

Max again, his face lit by a bright smile this time. She felt his arms wrap tightly around her and a warmth bloom in her chest.

Silence.

Liz dragging him onto the dance floor, her eager hands nudging him into a semblance of a dance.

Silence.

Maria’s smile, brilliant and kind, her arms warm around his waist. 

Silence.

Silence. Only it was different. It was stillness. It was peace. The thoughts that ever raged inside him all calmed down. Isobel felt like she could finally take a breath only for it to catch in her throat at the sight of Alex’s eyes, droopy with sleep but oh so fond. 

Silence.

Lights and sirens blaring. A woman Isobel doesn’t recognize trapped behind glass. (It’s Michael’s mother but she doesn’t know how she knows) A glance between the woman on one side of him and Alex on the other and in an instant a choice is made. A piece of Michael breaks at the idea of leaving his mother to die but he doesn’t hesitate to follow Alex away.

Silence. And this time Isobel doesn’t wait for the next hit. She takes half a breath to center herself before pulling away from Michael and back into her own mind.

“Woah!” Someone yelled as she toppled sideways. Her chest was heaving and there was a wetness on her cheeks but Isobel barely registered it.

“He’s trapped,” she gasped. “He’s trapped in there and I can’t get him out.”

Two sets of hands push her into a seated position and she finally opens her eyes to see the Ortecho sisters on either side of her, Maria still by Michael’s side but staring at her in fear. “What does that mean?” 

Isobel paused to catch her breath, feeling like she’d just finished a marathon. The room was noticeably darker than it had been when she arrived but she had no idea what time it was. “It means we need Alex Manes.”


	2. Chapter 2

Isobel wasn’t sure which part of ‘we need Alex Manes’ had been confusing but apparently it was all of it.

“I don’t understand,” Maria said for the fifth time, her hand clutching Michael’s tightly. “What do you mean he’s trapped and we need Alex? Why can’t you just untrap him?”

“How is he trapped?” Liz was pacing, her feet moving almost as fast as her mind. “Your powers are external right? You use telepathy to influence  _ other  _ people. If he’s trapped then that means he somehow turned it in on himself? Which you can’t do?”

Rosa, blessedly, stayed silent and tilted her phone to show Isobel a text to Alex requesting his presence at Maria’s apartment. 

“Look,” Isobel snapped. “We don’t know anything about our powers, okay? It’s 100% trial and error. Yeah, up until now I’ve only ever been able to direct my powers outside of myself but my mind isn’t as much of a mess as Michael’s and-”

“Hey!” Maria chided. “He’s not a mess.”

Isobel snorted. “He is absolutely a mess. His mind is- it’s pure chaos. It’s always been that way. But right now it’s worse. It’s like he’s reliving his memories and not the good ones.”

“So we just have to pull him out?” Liz slowed her steps. “We have to remind him that those are just memories and reality is out here?”

Isobel shrugged. “Not sure. Like I said, this is all trial and error. I’ve never had this problem.”

“So why do you think we need Alex?” Liz seemed genuinely curious. Maria and Rosa both turned to Isobel with expectant looks.

“He quiets the chaos,” Isobel answered simply. She didn’t want to cause problems in her brother’s relationship but there was no good way to tell Maria that she wasn’t the one who could save her boyfriend. Just then, Michael’s quiet whimpers escalated into a scream. One scream, sharp and loud. All four women startled at the sound.

“Michael?!” Maria cupped his face and and rubbed at the tears on his cheeks. “Michael, can you hear me?”

“Oh my god,” Rosa whispered. The other three turned to her only to find her pointing at Michael. Isobel looked back over at him, her attention going back to where Maria crouched over him, desperate for a response. She saw nothing worthy of Rosa’s outburst. “His hand,” Rosa continued.

And then she saw it. Michael’s left hand was covered in blood, his fingers twisted in a grotesque reimagining of his prior injury. Only, Isobel suspected, it wasn’t a reimagining, it was the injury born anew.

Maria and Liz both covered this mouths and looked away in horror. Isobel shifted to get up and get something to wrap it when the front door swung open and Kyle stepped in, his whole body radiating exhaustion. “Get something for his hand!” Isobel didn’t bother with pleasantries.

Kyle narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Who’s ha-” he looked around the room, his eyes zeroing in on the bloody mess in seconds. Instantly, the exhaustion was gone and the doctor was in. He hurried into the kitchen to grab Maria’s first aid kit, a towel, and a bowl of water. Isobel got out of the way as he kneeled next to Michael and gently began cleaning the wound. “What happened?”

“He tried to practice his telepathy, got stuck inside his own head, and now he’s reliving his worst memories.” Isobel nodded at Michael’s hand. “Looks like he’s bringing them to life somehow.”

“One second he was fine, physically at least, and then-” Liz gestured at the injury helplessly.

“Okay. Well why don’t you wake him up before he brings anything else back?”

“Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” Isobel snapped. “We need Alex.”

This made Kyle look up at her. “Alex? He’s out of town.”

Isobel stared at him. “What? For how long?”

Kyle shrugged and glanced around. “I’m not sure. He had to go to some training thing for transferring to the Reserves.”

Isobel turned on Rosa. “Did he answer?” Rosa shook her head. “Dammit.”

“Why do we need Alex?” Kyle asked. “Can’t you wake him up?”

Isobel shook her head, her hand raking through her hair. “We need someone to get through to him, remind him that he’s stuck in his head and that reality is out here.” She sighed. “He could barely hear me when I was  _ in _ his head screaming at him. I only just heard Maria, there’s no way he heard her.”

“So why Alex?” Rosa finally piped up. “You said he quiets the chaos?”

“Michael’s reliving all of his worst memories. When I was in there I sort of forced him into remembering some better ones and one of the memories that stood out was when he was with Alex and it was just really peaceful and calm in a way I’ve never known Michael’s mind to be. If we want to have any chance of pulling Michael out of this, we need his mind to be calm.”

“So we need Alex,” Kyle agrees easily. “But Alex isn’t here. And we have no idea when he’ll be back.”

“Can you take us into his mind with you?” Maria asked suddenly. “You said you could barely hear me when you were in there but what if  _ I’m  _ in there?”

Isobel started to shut her down but closed her mouth before she could say anything. It wasn’t a  _ terrible _ idea. She shrugged. “Why not?”

Wordlessly, they arranged themselves on either side of Michael’s head, Kyle next to Isobel as he bandaged Michael’s hand. Isobel took Maria’s hand in one of her own and placed the other on Michael’s forehead. She took a deep breath and reached for Maria’s mind. As with previous attempts, she hit a wall. 

“Hey,” Liz’s soft voice echoed distantly. “I’m going to take your necklace off.” It didn’t make sense since Isobel wasn’t wearing a necklace but suddenly Maria’s mind was wide open.

“There you are,” she sighed smugly as an image of Maria appeared. She was looking around in wonder at their joined mindscape and didn’t seem to hear Isobel. “Hey.” Nothing. “Maria!” 

Maria’s head snapped up. “Isobel? What- where are we?”

“Your mind,” Isobel answered absently as she reached for Michael. It took a minute but then suddenly the calm peace of Maria’s mind was replaced with Michael’s chaos. 

They lasted six seconds before Maria started screaming and reflexively yanked them both out. Their egress from Michael’s mind was so forceful that both women physically flinched away from him. Maria ended up on her back on the floor, blood dripping from her nose as she put her hands to her head, her screams dimmed down to soft whimpers reminiscent of Michael’s. 

Kyle and Liz hurried to her side as Rosa steadied Isobel. “What happened?”

“She couldn’t handle his chaos.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was nine days before Alex got Rosa’s text. It was another four before he could get back to Roswell. 

Michael never woke up. The crucifix brand on his arm erupted in fresh blood and boils, the scent of charred skin filling Maria’s apartment, on the third day. After that, they moved him into a private room at the hospital, the need to keep him alive overriding Isobel’s security concerns. On the seventh, Michael started cringing in pain and arching his back off of the bed until Kyle turned him on his stomach. A look under his shirt showed a back that was bruised a deep violent purple. A pained whisper of Max’s name clued Isobel into the bruise’s origins. She hadn’t thought Max had thrown him into the truck that hard but clearly she was wrong. 

Every day, Isobel lost hours to Michael’s mind. She shoved as many happy memories and positive thoughts at him as she could but she could only keep it up for so long. For every hour she was with Michael, she needed twice that to recover. If there was a silver lining from all of this, it was that Isobel was finally getting to know her brother. Standing next to him and facing his memories with him showed her first hand the horrors he’d faced in the system while she and Max had been safe at home with their parents. She watched him fall in love with Alex (watched him get his heart broken and fall in love again anyway, and then do it all over again, and again). There was so much more to their relationship than she had ever imagined. She watched and felt Michael and Max’s relationship splinter and fracture and crumble in the wake of Rosa’s death and their secret. She felt the soft glow of love and friendship in his memories of Liz and Maria and, surprisingly, Jenna Cameron. Then there was Caulfield. Isobel still had trouble processing Michael’s emotions from that day. There was elation and relief at not being alone, at having real family, but there was also heartbreak and rage and self-hatred for their deaths, for causing their deaths inadvertently. 

It was all a mess. Michael was a mess. And he was dying under the pressure of his own mind. All Isobel could do was stand there and watch.

On the thirteenth day, Isobel settled into the bed next to Michael and delved deep once again. As always, she was immediately bombarded with glimpses and snippets of Michael’s memories, his thoughts and feelings, as she searched for him. She never felt the weight of his memories until she was right next to him but it never occurred to her to stay away once she was in his head, no matter how uncomfortable she may get.

“Guerin?” Everything stilled. One word and the whirlwind of Michael’s thoughts paused. His head lifted up a fraction from where it was huddled in his arms. “Michael?” Isobel felt the calm start to wash over her as she felt the faint pressure of calloused hands cradling Michael’s left hand, careful of his injury. “Jesus Christ, Guerin.” Isobel could tell the speaker was whispering but she heard him loud and clear. Michael slowly uncurled.

“Alex?” He croaked.

Isobel’s eyes widened in surprise though she wasn’t sure why. Of course Alex would be the one to get through to Michael, that’s what she’d determined that first day, but she hadn’t recognized his voice. It sounded different through Michael’s ears. And, if she was being honest with herself, she hadn’t been entirely sure Alex could actually do it. 

“Can you hear me?” Alex sounded unsure, almost timid. Michael nodded in response even though Alex had no way of seeing him. Isobel saw that and rolled her eyes, pausing for just a moment to soak in the quiet before slowly pulling out. 

When she opened her eyes, Alex was standing next to the bed on Michael’s other side, his fatigues dirty as if he’d come straight here from training without pause. He looked weary and strangely hesitant somehow as he cradled Michael’s hand in his own, his thumb stroking gently over the bandage. “Bout time,” Isobel griped as she struggled to sit up. Alex jerked his head in surprise at her voice, one of his hands leaving Michael to help her up. “He’s quiet.”

“I-” Alex shook his head. “Kyle tried to explain what was going on but it didn’t make any sense.”

“Michael tried something new, it backfired, he’s trapped in his head in like this vortex of misery, and you’re the only one who get him out.”

“ _ How _ ?” Alex almost pleaded.

Isobel half shrugged. “Don’t ask me to explain your relationship with my brother to you. All I know is his mind is a  _ mess _ and nothing has been able to soothe him even a little bit in two weeks until he heard your voice. When you said his name, things quieted in that head of his. So now I need you to convince him to wake up.”

“You realize we’ve barely spoken in months, right?” Alex blinked. “And you want me to, what, convince him to live?”

“Trust me, if I could do it I would have already. Maria already tried. Neither one of us in two weeks has accomplished a fraction of what you did by just saying his name.” Isobel didn’t think she’d have to convince him to save Michael. “Just, I don’t know, talk to him. Remind him that the memories he’s trapped in are just that. That reality is out here.”

Michael whimpered and Alex forgot Isobel was there. She watched as his hand hovered next to Michael’s face, his fingers twitching like he needed to touch. Michael’s head rolled to the side so he could face Alex. “‘lex?” Michael whispered.

It was the first word he’d spoken out loud since he’d fallen under.

“Yeah, Guerin, I’m here,” Alex promised, his fingers finally giving in to his desire as he cupped Michael’s face. His thumb rubbed over Michael’s cheek. “I’m here.”

“I might need to take you in,” Isobel suggested quietly. “So you can actually talk to him.”

“How do we do that?”

“Get comfortable,” Isobel directed. “You kind of lose track of time in there and you really shouldn’t be standing.” Alex pulled up a chair without letting go of Michael’s hand and nodded at Isobel to continue. “I’m going to go into your mind and make that connection and then bring you into Michael’s so you need to keep your mind open and let me in.

Alex nodded again and Isobel sank into the familiar feeling. Even with someone she’d never done this with before, the sensation was like greeting an old friend. Isobel barely had time to blink before the connection was in place.

“Is this it?” Alex asked immediately. He looked around them at the soft hazy space, a solid steel wall on his right. Isobel eyed it curiously, confused by the unexpected sight. 

“We’re in your mind,” Isobel explained absently, her attention still on the wall. 

“And now Michael’s?” Alex urged.

Isobel nodded and focused on Michael’s mind. At this point, it took nothing to slip inside. His mind opened up for her like the door of his Airstream. In a breath they moved seamlessly from Alex’s walled in serenity to the center of Michael’s tornado. Isobel braced herself for Alex’s reaction but she needn’t have worried. He immediately left her side and almost danced his way through the mess, careful not to disturb anything as he made his way straight towards Michael. Isobel wandered close enough to see them, to see Michael unfurl under Alex’s touch, but stayed far enough away to give them their privacy.

As the tension left Michael’s body, the space around her slowed until it stilled. And then it changed. What was an almost senseless void faded into the New Mexico desert, nothing around for miles except Michael’s beat up old truck which appeared beneath him and Alex. The sun was starting to set on the horizon and the sky was painted in swaths of orange and gold and purple.

Alex’s laugh filled the air. “You’ve got a thing for desert sunsets,” he teased lightly. Isobel looked over to see Michael shrug as he settled himself in Alex’s arms, the two of them braced against the window of the cab.

“What’s not to love?” Michael asked, his voice surprisingly clear.

Alex hummed in response, the slightest sound covering the distance between them and Isobel easily. “We never really got to see many of them.”

“Not yet,” Michael returned softly.

Alex looked down at him. “You want more sunsets?”

“Yeah.” Michael looked up at Alex. “It’s peaceful.”

“Calms the chaos?”

“No, that’s you. The sunsets are just the icing on top.”

“Michael-” Alex choked out. “You know this is a dream, right?”

“It’s a good dream.” Michael looked away. “Had a lot of nightmares lately.”

“So wake up,” Alex nudged him gently. “We’re in your head, Guerin. None of this is real. You want more sunsets? Wake up.”

Michael hummed. “But you won’t be there when I wake up. I only get you in my dreams.”

Alex moved Michael far enough away that Michael was forced to turn and look at him. “This may be a dream, but I’m real. I’m here and I’m in the damn hospital room next to you.”

“Fine,” Michael agreed easily. “But as soon as I wake up, you’ll leave again.”

“You wanted me to leave,” Alex reminded him. “You started a relationship with Maria and asked me to give you space to move on.”

“Yeah well I was an idiot. I thought I could be happy without you.”

“You are happy, Guerin.”

“No I’m not. Not really. I’m happ _ ier, _ I’m content, I’m solid for maybe the first time in my life, but I’m not  _ happy _ .” Michael shifted fully away from Alex and looked out at the setting sun. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Alex confessed softly. “But I’m not having this conversation in your head. Wake up so we can talk for real.”

Michael sighed and shook his head. “It’s not all nightmares in here.”

Alex closed his eyes like he couldn’t believe Michael’s stubbornness. “Yeah? What’s the best dream you have?”

“Me and you, out here one night with our guitars. It was your third visit home after you left.”

“...and you remember the  _ guitars _ ?” The way he said guitars told Isobel that a lot more than music had happened that night.

Michael shrugged. “I get to relive the good stuff, not the best stuff.”

Alex seemed to come to a decision and nodded sharply before sitting up and swinging a leg over Michael’s and settling in his lap. Michael grabbed his hips as Alex tangled his fingers in Michael’s hair. Isobel watched with a sort of morbid fascination as Alex slowly closed the gap between them before pausing a hairsbreadth away from Michael’s lips. “You wanna what’s great about the real world?” Alex whispered. “You get more of the best stuff.”

Michael leaned forward to close the gap but Alex moved away after a few scant seconds. He was up and out of Michael’s lap before Isobel could blink. Michael’s groan filled the air. “ _ Alex _ .”

“Wake up, Guerin,” he commanded. “I’ll be waiting.” He joined Isobel. “Let’s go.”

“What?” Isobel stared at him as Michael shouted his name.

“Let’s go. If we stay here, he has no reason to wake up.”

Isobel opened her mouth to argue before deciding against it. She gave Michael a lingering look before slipping out of his mind with Alex in tow. 

They woke up to Kyle hovering over them. “You’ve been out for six hours,” he chided. 

Isobel groaned as she tried to move, her limbs protesting the action after so long. “Any change in Michael?” Kyle shook his head.

“Did it work?” Liz asked from the doorway, Rosa peering over her shoulder. 

“Evidently not,” Isobel grumbled as she forced herself to her feet. Kyle pressed a bottle of acetone into her hands and she smiled gratefully before chugging half of the bottle. She’d likely spend the rest of the day sleeping this off but she wanted to stay awake as long as possible to see if Michael woke up.

Alex hadn’t moved from his chair, though he was massaging his leg like it ached something fierce. “You tried, Alex,” Isobel told him. “It’s up to him now.” 

Alex nodded as he accepted a quick hug from Liz and Rosa. Apparently he hadn’t stopped for pleasantries on his way in. 

They waited around for another hour before Isobel could hardly keep her eyes open and Alex admitted he desperately needed a shower. Kyle agreed to keep an eye on Michael while Liz and Rosa offered to drive the two of them home. They were almost out the door when-

“Reality sucks.”

The five of them nearly tripped over each other as they all rushed back into the room. Michael watched them bleary eyed from his bed. Isobel let out a watery laugh as she hugged Michael tightly before smacking him upside the head. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I promise.” 

“Hey Mikey,” Liz ducked in for a hug the second Isobel pulled away, “You had us all worried.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “How long was I out?”

“Two weeks,” Rosa told him as she ducked in to press a kiss to his cheek. She wasn’t a hugger unless it was Liz. Michael stared at her in shock.

“Two weeks?!”

“It’s why you’re in the hospital,” Kyle explained kindly. “We needed to keep an eye on you and make sure you got your fluids and nutrients.” Michael blinked at him. 

“Holy shit, I’m sorry Izzy,” he turned to her. “I didn’t mean to leave you alone like that.”

“I know,” she promised, gripping his hand tight. “And now you’re back.”

“Now I’m back.” He squeezed her hand and then looked away. Isobel didn’t need to follow his gaze to know he was looking for Alex.

“Alright. I seriously need to sleep for like a solid day so someone’s driving me home right now.” She hopped off of the bed and shooed Kyle and the Ortecho’s out ahead of her, unsubtly leaving Alex in the room with Michael. 

“You said you’d be waiting,” she heard Michael say.

“And here I am,” Alex replied.

“You also said the real world has the best stuff,” Michael half asked hopefully. Isobel closed the door on the sound of Alex’s quiet laugh and lips meeting.

She turned around to see Maria hunched over in a waiting chair, her knee bouncing anxiously. “Is he okay?”

The four of them paused, unsure of what to say. Isobel knew she wasn’t the only one to hear their exchange. 

“He’s okay,” Liz finally said. “He’s awake. But I think he and Alex need to talk so maybe give them some time?”

Maria’s face fell as she nodded. “Yeah, okay. You’re sure he’s okay.”

“He is,” Kyle promised. “Come on. We’ve all been up for weeks. Go home and get some sleep. Come back in the morning when you and he are both wide awake and not about to pass out.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. That’s smart.” Maria cast a sad but resigned look at Michael’s door before gathering her things and following them out. 


End file.
